It is now common knowledge there are many health benefits resulting from creativity and creative honesty versus many negative health consequences of repressed feelings and thoughts. It’s a no-brainer, creative self- expression and honesty create health and wellness and mitigate worry and old negative behaviors. 

  Sending anonymous honesty letters puts a strong focus on the message about destructive behaviors while keeping the messenger a secret and safely out of the situation. We honor true freedom of speech with the focus solely on the message

(by keeping the messenger anonymous), enabling us all to move beyond recrimination, praise or blame, while sharing our truthful thoughts, feelings and emotions. Experience has shown us that receiving the truth in writing, with no one to blame or retaliate against has a powerful sense of mystery behind it that often facilitates healthy behavioral changes.

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True Story: Confronting Verbal Abuse Anonymously and Successful Changes in Behavior

  I recently received a phone call from a woman in Oklahoma telling me that she had anonymous expressions send our poem about verbal abuse anonymously to her brother-in-law. She was calling to share with me what happened after he received it and to express how grateful she was for the outcome. She told me that according to her sister, her brother-in-law became very defensive and angry after receiving the anonymous honesty letter sent to confront his verbal abuse. However, the next day after he had calmed down,  he told his wife that he wondered if perhaps one of the children had spoken with the school counselor and he wondered if perhaps someone from the school had send this honesty letter to him. His wife told him that she thought this was a strong and realistic possibility.

  This man’s wife, (my client’s sister-in-law) was happy to report that this mean and angry man had found self-control he never knew he had! He was treating his wife and their children more kindly in public and at home. He absolutely got the message, recognized that someone was watching and that his behavior had been destructive and he made a conscious decision to change it. This man’s entire family, himself included, had found a sense of harmony that made a huge difference within their home life.

  As this woman on the phone thanked me profusely, I took the time to point out that she had courageously chosen to be part of the solution within a very difficult situation. I honored her for being the one to facilitate the harmonious transformation within her sister’s family. Within her tears, she said, “I am so glad that I chose to do something constructive to help protect my sister and her wonderful children. I can’t tell you how much this has changed my life and the lives of everyone within our family and it has only been within the last two weeks.”